Anonymous hackers hit back over Megaupload closure

The so-called “hacktivist” group Anonymous have wasted no time in responding to the US led closure of file-sharing website Megaupload.com, hitting a number of online targets in a co-ordinated cyber attack.

Hong Kong-based Megaupload, one of the world’s largest file-sharing sites with 150 million registered users, about 50 million hits daily, was shut down by federal prosecutors in the US last night, who charged its founder Kim Dotcom and others with violating piracy laws.

According to an indictment in America, its popularity was enough to earn Dotcom $42million last year.

The indictment accuses the company of costing copyright holders more than 500 million dollars in lost revenue from pirated films and other content.

The indictment was unsealed today, one day after websites including Wikipedia, shut down in protest at two congressional proposals - known as SOPA and PIPA - intended to thwart the online piracy of copyrighted movies and TV programmes.

Megaupload has claimed it is diligent in responding to complaints about pirated material.

The indictment says that, at one point, Megaupload was the 13th most popular website in the world.

Within minutes of the news, Anonymous, the group of hackers been behind a series of high-profile cyber stunts, launched an offensive against US government and anti-piracy websites.

Targets included sites for anti-piracy organisations RIAA and MPAA (America’s Recording Industry Association and Motion Picture Association), record label Universal Music, and the Department of Justice.

Federal officials confirmed the Justice Department’s website was down for hours on Thursday evening and that the disruption was being “treated as a malicious act.”

As well as being one of the most popular file-sharing websites, Megaupload also had support from celebrities such as rapper Kanye West and singer Alicia Keys, among others.

Dotcom, Megaupload’s former CEO and current chief innovation officer, is a resident of Hong Kong and New Zealand and a dual citizen of Finland and Germany who had his name legally changed. The 37-year-old was previously known as Kim Schmitz and Kim Tim Jim Vestor.

Two other German citizens and one Dutch citizen also were arrested and three other defendants - another German, a Slovakian and an Estonian - remain at large.